


In This Home

by Scarlet_Ribbons



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: All types of fairies, Alternate Dimensions, Alternate Universe, Bottom Jared/Top Jensen, But he's charming too, Dryads - Freeform, Evil Misha, Fairies!, M/M, Magic and Sorcery, Magical Amnesia?, Magical plant powers, Maybe Switching, Plant Lady Jared, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 03:05:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15654453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Ribbons/pseuds/Scarlet_Ribbons
Summary: Jared's had a sign in his garden saying 'in this home, we believe in fairies' since his childhood.





	In This Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowBiscuit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowBiscuit/gifts).



> This is the first chapter of a birthday gift for the lovely ShadowBiscuit. Happy late birthday, bb! Hope you enjoy it!

The light is different in the greenhouse. A little warmer, the glow a little softer. The plants glitter, droplets of dew tumbling from the tips like diamonds. He cups the long tendril of his sweet pea- Jodie, a pretty lady -and adjusts the splints so she's standing tall and proud again.

 

"Attagirl," he murmurs before pulling back. They're all growing splendidly, especially with the ceiling sprinklers he'd had installed. Now that his watering cans are all useless, he's been using them as flower pots to grow vibrant, tiny flowers. The greenhouse is by no means tidy; every planter, pot, watering can, fishbowl, and box overflows with greenery and flowers, spilling rampantly and spreading vines across the floor of the greenhouse. Jared's careful about where he steps, careful not to injure any of his plants by stepping on their limbs. 

 

He's got kind of a green thumb. Like his grandmother, he's good at coaxing life from the dirt, from tiny, stubborn seeds. Really good. In the greenhouse, the plants are safe from the wildlife- mostly nosy deer. Since Jared's cottage resides beside a thicket of shrubbery and spruce trees, white-tailed deer trot frequently into his garden. Sometimes he sneaks them tomatoes, if he's out in the garden when they visit.

 

His cottage is entwined with the nature around it, so much so that the garden is starting to creep into his home. 

 

What he's noticed is that his plants have the tendency to grow almost anywhere- dirt and seeds he's trailed into his cottage have resulted in sprouts blooming between the floorboards and in the drains of his sinks and bathtub.

 

He's never stepped on any of them.

 

-

 

Some people are crazy cat people.

 

Jared is a crazy plant person.

 

When he's not tending to plants, creating recipes out of the vegetables in the greenhouse, feeding the wildlife outside, and sleeping, he's still doing weird things like reading to the plants in his house and playing music on the small radio in the living room for them. There are about six or seven flowerpots per room, overflowing with blooms, and the better part of Jared's day is spent rearranging them so they don't grow over each other.

 

They like classical music. Not quite Mozart, more Chopin, but they've never protested Tchaikovsky. Or anything, really, since they're plants.

 

So he sits at home, alone, and talks to his plants. He hasn't spoken much to anyone in years... Hasn't been further than the farmer's market to sell his fresh vegetables. He skates by on the small, safe inheritance his grandmother left him, in the cottage he grew up in, with the greenhouse he created from the ground up. He would be lonely, but he has his plants. Human connection certainly doesn't come as easily to him anymore.

 

So when his doorbell rings on a warm Sunday afternoon, he's surprised and a little wary. He steps around the plants sprawled over the floor lazily, sets the book he's reading on the counter, wipes dew off his hands, and opens the door. 

 

"Hi." There's a small smile. Jared's mind goes a little hazy, syrupy, for a moment before the world sharpens into focus. He realizes why- the stranger is astonishing. Jared can't place what's pretty about him- at first, it's the smile, then it's the eyes, the freckles. He can't pick what he wants to look at. It's like looking into the sun. 

 

"Hi," he manages to croak, clearing his throat and suddenly feeling conscious of the apron he's wearing that says _you had me at aloe_. "Um..." He has no idea how to communicate. He's drawing a complete blank, and he can't pull his gaze away from the stranger's eyes. He knows it's been a while since he talked to a really hot guy, but at least he can manage more than a "hi." Usually.

 

"Nice cottage," the stranger says. Jared blinks a bit, tries to dust away the cobwebs of his brain and zoom out. The man on his porch looks like the perfect cut out from a farmers' matrimony website- soft, long-sleeved flannel, leg-hugging jeans, rubber ranch boots. "I'm Jensen. I just moved in across the street."

 

Jared's mouth finally moves, and he's absolutely flabbergasted to find another cottage across the dirt road. The land across the road didn't belong to him, of course, but he's fairly positive there hadn't even been a cottage there yesterday. He has to be going crazy... Being holed up with his plants all day is probably doing things to his brain. "Wow, I ... I didn't even notice them building that."

 

Jensen lifts an eyebrow. "That's definitely strange," he says good-naturedly, hands tucked into his pockets. He even slides one hand through his sun-streaked hair and ruffles it, like there's a particular style he's going for. It's kind of a mix of endearing farmboy and all-American charm. "They've been building it bit by bit for a while now. Don't you remember?" 

 

Jared thinks for a second, and to his surprise, he actually can sort of... remember the cottage being built. Maybe a few workers milling around with materials, but he can't really remember any faces. He's not sure how he forgot about them in the first place.

 

"Oh my gosh," he says after a moment, shaking his head and laughing. "You're right. I remember... I can't believe I just erased that from my brain. I'm Jared. Do you want to come inside?"

 

"Sure," Jensen says, and he's thoughtful enough to step around a tangle of vines spread across the floor. "You ... Have a lot of plants." He looks around at the dozens of flower pots, at the leaves exploding in pillars of greenery in almost every corner, on every open surface. The kitchen table and counters have all but vanished underneath marigolds, forget-me-nots, daisies, and carnations. There's barely any space to sit down. 

 

"Yep," Jared smiles. "Peppermint tea?" 

 

\---

 

Jensen's not from around here. He doesn't seem uncomfortable, though. People have stopped by once in a while, looking to purchase the property, but they never seem as if they'll like living way out in the middle of nowhere all that much. They're appalled at how poor the reception is, how far away the nearest market is, how secluded the area is from any other people.

 

Jensen doesn't seem to mind.

 

"I don't care about the reception, I don't really use electronics that much. I might go to the market once in a while, but not too often to be bothered by it. And I'm not much of a people person." He gives Jared one more of those small smiles, one that verges on the edge of being genuine. They're sitting on the patio, where there's a small bench that isn't buried under plants. They're getting there, though. A morning glory is sneakily creeping around the armrests, and with one finger, Jensen strokes over the leaves. "That's why I'm moving all the way out here." 

 

Jared shrugs in agreement. "Same. I wouldn't mind taking you out into the market for the first time, if you'd like. I'll show you some of the nice stalls." He smiles. "There's a stall where they sell different types of honey... I'm in love with this- specific type of lavender honey. It's in the tea, actually." 

 

"That's the floral taste I was getting." Jensen chuckles, then leans back against the bench. "Nice sign," he says with a little smirk, tipping his chin toward the painted wooden sign in the grass that says  _in this home, we believe in fairies_. The plants growing around it have all but swamped it, so you can really only see the words and not the illustrations of tiny fairies. Jared ought to fix it.

 

"It's my grandmother's," Jared says thoughtfully, tucking his legs up because he can't sit properly. "She was kinda-" he flutters his hand toward the garden. "Different." That was putting it lightly. His grandmother frequented the woods in search of what she called fairy rings- circles of plant life, like toadstools, trees, or anything, really. She told stories of folks she knew who'd stepped into fairy rings and lost their minds. "She really believed in fairies, that is."

 

"You don't?" Jensen sits perfectly still, watching Jared intently, cup paused halfway on its trip to his lips. 

 

"Well," Jared shrugs helplessly. "I've never  _seen_ a fairy. I think. It's more of a way to remember my grandmother." 

 

"Eleanor," Jensen says, so casually that Jared almost spits his tea out.

 

"How in the world do you know my grandmother's name?" he asks, shocked and more than a little disturbed. 

 

"You just told me," Jensen says, that perfectly neutral expression shifting just slightly when he raises an eyebrow. "Remember?" 

 

"Oh." Jared feels a little foolish. Certainly he must have just... forgotten that he told Jensen that. It happens, anyway. "Yeah, Eleanor. She's the one who owns this cottage... It's my inheritance, so to speak. She's always wanted me to have this place, and I spent a good part of my childhood here, so ... I'm just trying to do her justice, you know?" 

 

"By making the cottage explode with plants?" Jensen smirks, and Jared tips his head back in a laugh.

 

"I don't know why, but everywhere I go... Plants just follow." He says fondly, thumbing the petals of the closest calla lilies. The smudge of red veins within their petal-cups are really brilliant this season. "My room back at home when I was growing up was kind of like this house... I had a couple flowerpots, and the next thing I know, I have twenty flowerpots and the room is just... Covered in flowers." 

 

"It's almost like magic," Jensen says in a tone that’s hard to decipher, and Jared pauses, fingers dipping into the calla lily before pulling back.

 

"Yeah, I guess." 

 

\---

 

He sees a lot of Jensen after that. There's a tiny road between them, after all, and much like Jared, Jensen is always outside. Jared's never really sure what he's doing outside, since he always seems to develop this specific amnesia whenever Jensen's around. It's like he's so stunned stupid by how gorgeous Jensen is that he just kind of forgets what the other is doing.

 

A couple of times Jared thinks he sees Jensen glowing in his garden while he tends to his own plants near the porch, but when he does a double-take, his mind peacefully tells him that the sun is a thing that exists and Jensen just happens to be standing in it. 

 

"You're just being stupid, Padalecki," he mutters to himself as he wrestles with an dreadfully stubborn weed. They seem to grow just as fast and strong as all his other plants, to his dismay. "People don't glow." 

 

"Talking to your plants again, Jay?" Jensen's voice floats over from a few feet back, and Jared gives up on his fight with the weed and smiles sheepishly. Jensen comes over a lot, sometimes to ask for tips with certain plants, other times to watch Jared dawdle around his garden, and occasionally to borrow sugar or honey or something he hadn't had the chance to pick up on his way out.

 

"I'm still not used to having company," he admits, adjusting his sun hat as he gets to his feet. He's not used to having a nickname, either, but both of them just sort of happened. "Did you want to borrow something?" 

 

"Just your time," Jensen responds smoothly, thought that's not rare- Jared's never even seen the other stutter. His hand is cool against Jared's arm. "I was wondering if you'd like to come out on a walk with me. I found a path through the woods behind the cottage, and it looks like there might be a lot of pretty wildlife." 

 

"I love some good wildlife." Jared smiles, pulls off his dirt-smudged gloves, debates changing into something a little more attractive, but... it's too late, anyway. Jensen's already seen him practically rolling around in the mud, fighting with a weed. 

 

"Cool."

 

There's something warmer in Jensen’s smile.

 

\--

 

“There’s a lake,” Jared says a few moments after they’ve begun walking, “it’s past the meadow and kind of buried into the woods, but it looks beautiful at dusk. There are willows there, too. Their leaves dip into the lake." He kneels beside a clump of bluebells- common out here, besides the toadstools and mushrooms. The toadstools are brilliant to look at, tomato-red and speckled with white, and the mushrooms span massive distances, almost the size of dinner plates.

 

There are only two landmarks in these woods that Jared knows of- the meadow and the lake. He's never ventured too far out, maybe in part due to the superstitions Eleanor had reinstated every time he wandered out as a child. The fairies might get him, he might stumble into a fairy ring, or what if he trips into a river and gets dragged away by a water nymph? He feels a little foolish for still ... slightly buying into all of that, but it had been a big part of his childhood.

 

"What are you thinking about?" Jensen asks, and Jared, as usual, is surprised to find that Jensen has a whole collection of toadstools in his arms. He hadn't even seen the other pick them up. 

 

"Well, I  _was_ thinking about how I haven't explored the woods that much, but now I'm thinking about how I hope you're not planning to eat those. Grandma always said toadstools are like mushrooms in every way, but toadstools can't be eaten."

 

Jensen smiles at him like he thinks Jared's being particularly amusing. "Why haven't you explored the woods that much, Jay?" he asks.

 

"Grandma's always telling me these stories," Jared says after a moment, turning and continuing to push branches aside. They've made it to the meadow, just about. The grass here smells sweet and fresh, bright green and silky-soft to the touch. "About fairies in the woods. She said I might step into a fairy ring. That's kind of like, when, there's plant life arranged in circles. She said that there were water nymphs in the rivers... and they like to play. If you play with them for too long, they might drag you under." He kneels beside a patch of electric orange flowers- butterfly weed. "Banshees. I've never heard their cries, but grandma swears..." He trails off, smiling at Jensen. "You probably think I'm crazy." 

 

Jensen gazes at him, indeterminable, posture relaxed and arms loose by his sides. Jared could have sworn there was something in them before, but the feeling is fuzzy and fades away, leaving him blissfully content to soak up the late afternoon sun. "I don't think you're crazy, Jay. If they're out there- fairies, that is." He clears his throat. "They probably try to avoid the human world, don't you think?" 

 

Jared shrugs. "Maybe. I can see why they might. Humans can be destructive and self-serving, but so can fairies," he challenges, and Jensen's expression wavers slightly. "Anyone can be selfish. But..." He stands up, rooting a single stem of butterfly weed to plant at home. "Why would they want to leave a world full of magic and come to one that's so... Mundane?" 

 

"Oh, I don't think it's mundane," Jensen offers casually. "There's magic in the .... In our world. Tiny miracles. Beauty in small things, kindhearted people, music and dance. Art. That's all magical, isn't it?" 

 

"I didn't think of that," Jared admits. 

 

"I think fairies don't come out more because they're afraid of humans," Jensen walks slightly ahead of Jared, as if he knows the way to the lake. Maybe he can hear the sound of the small waterfall that feeds into it. Jensen has great hearing, Jared's noticed; he could say something in a soft tone, almost a whisper, and Jensen can hear him from across the road. "Humans are afraid of the unknown, after all. Th- We hunt and kill what we don't understand. Why would fairies be any different?" 

 

"We do have a history," Jared agrees quietly, glancing askance at Jensen for a moment. "But I think that when humans really try to learn... To adapt and understand and overcome... they can do amazing things." 

 

Jensen hums in agreement, making a pleased sound when he sees the lake. The last of the sun dwindles, leaving the sky streaked with purple, pink, and faintly orange hues. The lake is a similar myriad of colors, and the weeping willows around it dip their leaves tentatively into the clear water. 

 

"It's beautiful, Jay," he says, and he's just as gorgeous. He's doing that thing that really looks like glowing again. When Jared looks out over the lake, he sees ... a lot of little glowing lights, hovering a few feet above the water. 

 

_Fireflies_ , his mind assures. When he looks back at Jensen, Jensen isn't glowing anymore.

 

"Someday we'll have a picnic here," Jensen says quietly, and Jared closes his eyes when he feels Jensen's fingers slide in between his and clasp tightly. 

 

It feels like something beginning. 

 

\---

 

The woods feel different since they went together. It feels like they're alive, waiting with bated breath.

 

Everything else is the same, apart from the addition of Jensen; he goes to the market to buy and sell on weekends with Jensen, and Jensen's over most of the time to eat with him or just spend time with him. 

 

It's hard for him to even think about what he was doing before Jensen arrived... And, really, it's even harder to think about  _before_ in general. He hadn't realized it until now, but he  _had_ been pretty lonely... He had just used his plants as an excuse not to go socialize more. Jensen's usually silent when they go to the market, but the folks at the market, curious about their relationship and mesmerized by Jensen's beauty, have started talking to Jared more. It's actually pretty nice.

 

He should have known that something would disturb their temporary serenity.

 

He's walking over to Jensen's with a mug in each hand, tea freshly brewed, and in the dark he missteps. The teacups shatter against the asphalt and he tumbles into the brambles, cuts himself up and down the arms with tiny, bloody scratches. He's not sure how long he sits, there, stunned. He must have called out, or cried out, or  _something_. Just like everything else, it's frustratingly fuzzy. 

 

He has no memory of how he winds up sitting in Jensen's sparsely decorated living room, arms in Jensen's hands.

 

Jensen's hands are cool. Like, really cool. Jared's not sure that Jensen's a normal, healthy temperature, and he's afraid for him. But in the wake of weirder things happening- namely Jensen trailing his thumb over Jared's forearms and swiping away the cuts -Jared forgets about the temperature thing.

 

"Oh my god," he blurts out, on the verge of hyperventilation from all the  _weird_. "You just healed me, Jensen! You- You just," he breathes faster, trying to tear his eyes away from his unbroken skin to Jensen's vaguely puzzled gaze. 

 

"What are you talking about, Jay?" he asks gently, squeezing Jared's wrist.

 

"What am I talking about?" Jared questions back, at a loss for words as he looks down at his forearms. "You- You just- I was hurt, and you-" There's words rattling around in his head like candy, they're there. Jared tries to hold onto them and pull them down. "You-"

 

"You didn't get hurt, Jared," Jensen looks and sounds uncertain, his expression open and genuine. "We were just drinking tea, and you suddenly freaked out. Are you feeling okay, love? I'm worried." His fingers spread, cool palm against Jared's jaw.

 

"I..." Jared squeezes his eyes shut. There's nothing in his head, it's like it's full of cotton candy. Sugar-spun and sticky and full of holes. He looks down and there's a teacup in his hands. It smells like peppermint. "I don't know what's going on," he admits, unexpectedly vulnerable, and flinches just slightly when Jensen presses a kiss against his forehead. 

 

"It's gonna be okay, Jay.” Jensen leans in, hands on either side of Jared’s face. Their coolness calms the dizziness in his head, just a little. “You’re in my cottage, drinking tea with me. Don’t worry, Jay. Everything is okay. Everything is going to be okay.” He closes the gap between them, plush lips pressing against Jared’s. His fingers bury themselves into the silky, sloppy strands against Jared’s jaw and tug, slide down his neck and curl against his ribs. It takes him a moment to realize Jensen’s talking to him.

 

“We good, Jay?” 

 

Jared can’t even remember why he was so agitated. 

 

“We’re good,” he breathes against Jensen’s mouth, warmth rushing through him when he sees Jensen’s soft, bright smile. 

 

—-

 

He wakes up in agony late that night. 

 

His head  _hurts_. It’s almost comical how much pain he’s in; it transcends any ordinary migraine, and kind of feels like a burning knife buried into his head. He whimpers as he gropes blindly for the lamp beside his bed, knocks the ceramic pitcher off the nightstand. 

 

It shatters, and he  _remembers_.

 

It starts small- the image of a teacup breaking against the cobblestones outside Jensen’s home, tea splashing into the dirt beside the path -and quickly unravels a whole slew of memories tucked sleepily behind a dam. 

 

Jensen. Beautiful, calm, Jensen, Jensen with his armfuls of toadstools, with his cold hands that healed him, with a cottage built in just seconds. Jared is almost positive Jensen isn’t even  _human_. 

 

As if on cue, he hears a knock and startles, sitting up and tugging plants off of himself. Somehow, his plants have all but exploded; Jared hears an ominous splintering sound and looks up, almost passing out when he sees a vine bursting obtrusively through his roof, just above his bed. Plaster crumbles from around the massive stem, white dust flecking his bed and shoulders. 

 

Numb with shock, he crawls out of his bed and tries not to trip over thick, tangled vines on his way to the door. He throws it open, resisting the urge to slam it closed again when he sees Jensen, fist frozen in midair like he was about to knock again.

 

“Jay,” he breathes. “I felt... I mean... it felt like something was wrong....”

 

“Save it,” Jared spits, on the verge of hyperventilation. “You- you felt ... because you’re not ...” he gasps, trying to take in steady breaths. “You’re not human. That’s why...”

 

Jensen lowers his hand. He’s silent for a moment before nodding and shifting his gaze downwards. “I’m ... not human.”

 

Jared had figured as much, but it’s still a shock. He grips the doorframe with one hand, clutches at his chest with the other, so his rapidly beating heart doesn’t jump right out of his chest, and tries to stay upright. 

 

“And, well,” Jensen says, a little hesitantly, before looking up at Jared’s house. “That wasn’t my only indication that something was wrong.”

 

Jared stares at him before stepping out onto the porch, and he makes a fractured sort of sound when he sees the state of his cottage. Plants have burst through almost every wall, shattered the windows and curled around the shutters. Flowers and vines wrap tightly around the stairs and columns, strangling the cottage and crushing it inward. His home’s been impaled by his plants.

 

He covers his mouth so he doesn’t throw up. 

 

“Jared. Jay. I know this is a lot to process, so please, let me ...” Jensen reaches his hand out, and Jared promptly smacks it away.

 

“Don’t touch me!” He hisses, certain he looks like an insane person on his porch in his pajamas, covered in plaster like a ghost. Jensen recoils, looking hurt though that Jared has to really grip his anger tight and reel it in. He thinks about the teacup and it’s a little easier. “You- you messed with my memories! You erased them! You-”

 

“I can explain,” Jensen starts hastily, but Jared cuts him off.

 

“I don’t want to hear it!” He screams, nearly in hysterics, and freezes when he hears a soft rustling behind him. Slowly, he turns, looking back over his shoulder to see vines creeping forward like snakes, lifting off the porch at Jared’s side like weapons. They wriggle midair, snakelike, all aimed at Jensen as if they’re waiting for Jared’s command to strike. 

 

Instead, Jared passes out.

 

—-

 

There’s no confusion when he wakes, other than where he is. He’s determined to hang on to what he knows, what he remembers, lest the memories are taken away from him again.

 

“Jared,” Jensen says quietly from beside him, and Jared keeps his eyes determinedly trained on the ceiling. “How do you feel?”

 

Jared stays silent, lips pressed together tightly, before blurting out, “where am I really? This- this is just a disguise, isn’t it? To trick me?”

 

He doesn’t see Jensen’s expression, but he feels him moving. In a moment, his surroundings start to shift, and in surprise, he sits up. 

 

It’s like ... watching glitter dust fall away. Little by little, Jensen’s cottage as he knew it crumbles, vanishing into shimmering little stars, only to be replaced by a towering stalk of white and various shrubbery and toadstools. Jared looks down in awe, realizing he’s no longer on a bed with comforters and pillows, but one of moss. 

 

It’s soft.

 

The towering stalk, about as big as pine tree, carries the weight of an enormous red toadstool. It looks like the world’s biggest umbrella, and it’s standing exactly where Jensen’s cottage used to stand.

 

“My other home ... it’s surrounded by toadstools,” Jensen says softly, from somewhere behind him. Jared doesn’t trust himself to turn around just yet. “These made me feel at home, so I’ve been collecting them. My magic makes them grow ... but I’m not as good at plants as you, so it took me a while ...”

 

Jared finally dares to look back at the other. Jensen looks tired but still so  _painfully_ good. “What do you mean, as good as me? What’s ... your magic?” He asks, the words strange in his mouth. “And what’s... what’s this veil? And why did you erase my memories? And-“

 

Jensen sits beside him on the moss, reaching out for a moment before pulling his hand back. “You... have a gift, Jared.”

 

Jared swallows, not daring to look across the street at his choking cottage. “Looks like a curse to me,” he bites off, his stomach turning when he feels the grass ruffle a little harder under his feet.

 

Jensen looks stricken. “Not at all!” He exclaims, looking personally offended. “It’s just ... manifesting strongly because you’ve had a really stressful few hours. The plants reacted to your agitation and fear, but ... they love and rely on you. You...” he takes a deep breath. “Please don’t freak out. You have dryad blood in you.”

 

Jared stares at him for a moment before a laugh bursts out of him, incredulous. “What?”

 

“Dryad,” Jensen repeats, looking like he’s a little worried about Jared. “A type of nature fairy... harnesses the power of plants...”

 

“I know what a dryad is!” Jared shrills, and Jensen flinches. “But that’s impossible,” he adds, lowering his voice a little because there’s no point in screaming. Yet. “But there's no way I can be a dryad, Jensen. I- I'm just a normal, ordinary human!" Never mind that he crushed his own house with his freaky plant powers, don't throw up, don't throw up. 

 

Jensen takes a deep breath. 

 

"A long time ago, there was a lot of chaos in the fairy world," he begins, burying his fingers into the moss beneath Jared's body. "Many believed that a fairy being partners with a human was absolute blasphemy, but just as many believed that fairies needed to expand more into the human world, lay down our roots and become one with humankind. The Seelie Court- Basically, where fairies do all their politics -couldn't come to a decision.

 

An old family came to power during this time, spearheaded by a fairy named Basil. He was adamantly anti-human, and when he took over, he had hundreds of human-sympathizing fairies banished to the human world. One of them was an extremely powerful dryad known as Clover- She probably could have fought back against Basil's takeover, but .." Jensen lowers his eyes. "She'd recently been injured, so she was only at a fraction of her power. To keep her safe in the event that she could return and save us from Basil's choke hold, other fairies smuggled her out safely so she wasn't killed in the riots that took place at the borders."

 

"Okay," Jared interrupts, albeit a little peevishly. He's talking. To a fairy. A  _fairy_. Twenty-four hours ago, he hadn't even been sure that fairies were real, and now... The history is  fascinating, and Jared's always been a geek about this, but now? Really? He should've taken Eleanor seriously when she was alive. "What does this have to do with me, though?" 

 

"I'm getting there," Jensen assures. "Clover came to the human world, but her powers were seriously impacted. She was weak from defending fairies all the way until the end, and she had taken hits from Basil's forces. A human male found her dying on the edge of the border, and he nursed her back to health. His name was James." His lips purse tight as he glances at Jared. "She had a baby with him about a year later- Eleanor Daly."

 

No way.

 

"My.... Are you..." Jared closes his eyes to make the world stop spinning in circles. "Telling me... That my grandmother's mother...  _my_ great-grandmother... was a  _dryad_?!"

 

Jensen smiles weakly. "Surprise?"

 

\---

 

Once he's done reeling, Jared realizes he's actually starving. He sits there stubbornly so that he doesn't have to ask for food, but his stomach grumbles pretty loudly and Jensen immediately stands up to get him some food. Jared has no idea what Jensen's been eating if he hasn't even really had a  _kitchen_ , but his curiosity is explained away when Jensen brings over fresh tomatoes.

 

Jared bites into one of them- they're sweet, almost sweeter than sugar, and he doesn't even realize that he's devoured about nine of them in minutes. He wipes away the sticky tomato juice and glances askance at Jensen, before murmuring, "So then... Because my great-grandmother was a dryad... I have dryad blood in me?" 

 

"Jared," Jensen exhales his name out, sits down beside him, and Jared tries to stop thinking about how attractive his brain thinks Jensen is. He's going to short out if he doesn't focus. "You... You have no idea how powerful you are. What you did to your house last night, when you were afraid and angry, in your nightmares... It's just a fraction of your power. You can do amazing things with plants." 

 

"Why did you erase my memories?" Jared asks quietly, squinting into the afternoon sun. "What are you really here for, Jensen?" 

 

"Okay." Jensen hesitantly threads his fingers between Jared's, gives his hand a squeeze, and Jared lets him. For now. "You deserve an explanation, but first, you need to know about the Mirage. It's extremely powerful magic put in place by the Seelie Court, and it's how fairies disguise ourselves in the human world. When you saw me doing weird fairy things- like glowing, or holding toadstools in my arms -the Mirage automatically adjusted what you would see and muddled your memory to confuse you. But you... You have the blood in you. You saw gaps in between, glimpses of reality that didn't match what your brain was telling you- which confused you and caused you a lot of pain." 

 

"Why didn't you just- tell me?" Jared asks, hating that the explanation is so rational that he can't really be mad at Jensen anymore. "Instead of just letting me being confused?" 

 

"Because I'm shit at my job," Jensen whispers back, stroking his thumb over the column of Jared's wrist. "I was hoping that you being in the presence of another fairy would awaken the fairy blood in you, get you to come to terms little by little. But your time in the human world has... made you more oblivious. You just weren't realizing it- and the Mirage, it cannot be controlled by a random fairy like me. I couldn't just make it stop meddling with your memories."

 

"Hey!" Jared huffs, offended, but he can't really bring himself to be more upset. He's got a lot more to process right now, anyway. Mainly the fact that he is, unironically, part dryad. It's crazy. "So... Wait, then, what was your job?" If Jensen is just here on a job, does that mean that ... Their affection for each other is just some sort of prop? And sure, yeah, it's not like they've confessed their undying love or anything like that- and sure, they haven't even really figured out  _what_ they're doing, but...

 

Jensen must read the agitation in Jared's face, because he hurries to squeeze Jared's wrist. "Nothing about how I feel about you is fake, Jared. My job was simply to come here and help you realize your fairy roots." 

 

"But why? Why now?" Jared demands. "Is something happening? Why do I have to.... Why do I need to know all of this now?" 

 

Jensen sucks in a breath, looking wounded. "Because Basil's reign never quite... Ended. His descendant, Misha... Is still ruling over the Seelie Court with an iron fist. His policies are far more radical than Basil's- he's deeply anthrophobic. That is, afraid of humans... and deeply hostile toward any mention of them. I'm afraid he's going to stage some sort of takeover, and he has so many human-sympathizing fairies locked up. Most of the fairies left in the other world are either silently compliant or afraid of challenging Misha. Jay... I was smuggled out by a good friend of mine, but I can't stay. It's ... Illegal. If Misha finds out, he'll lock me up." 

 

It's a lot of information. Jared just stares at Jensen helplessly. "You have to go back? Why not just... Not go back? Can't you stay here, so .. I mean, he can't lock you up if you're here, can he?" 

 

Jensen smiles a little, moving his hand up to Jared's ribs and squeezing slightly. "Jared, the other world is my home. I can't stay here. But... It doesn't feel like a home anymore. It just feels like prison. And... If I want to change anything, I need you."

 

"But I can't even control my powers. I didn't even  _know_ I had powers until now!" Jared's distress begins to disturb the plants around him, his heart rate slowly climbing. "I can't do anything to help you unless it's by accident! Aren't there other fairies that can help you?" It's still kind of freaking him out that fairies are even real! 

 

"None that have the same power you have," Jensen draws Jared in closer. "You saw what you just did. I haven't seen that kind of power in years." 

 

Jared takes a deep breath. “I... I’m sorry. I can’t make a decision now, I need to process, I- I don’t know what to do yet. Just give me a little while, please.”

 

Jensen nods, watches Jared get to his feet and make his way back home to his slightly demolished house. "You know where to find me," he says softly, and Jared feels the grass rustle beneath his feet. Right now he's not even sure if the plants around him are moving naturally or if they're reacting to him, to his distress and anxiety. He's  _just_ found out about the fairy world and now he's been tasked with the partial responsibility of saving it; he's pretty sure he has a right to freak out.

 

A dandelion trembles beside his feet like it agrees.

 

\---

 

He lies awake for a long time that night; firstly, because he can't really sleep when a vine roughly the size and width of a tree trunk has forced its way through the roof of his house, and secondly, because he's still kind of freaking out. He rolls onto his side, reaches out to the nightstand to pick up Eleanor's bracelets- the only memento other than the house that she left him. 

 

She hadn't said anything about them, nothing that would have been extremely helpful like  _"Hey Jared, one day these bracelets will help you when you decide whether or not to battle the wicked fairies that have taken over the fairy world,"_ but they were still her favorite bracelets, and he thinks she would have liked him to think of her when making his decision. He pulls the red and blue beaded one on first, then the one with the golden and brown branch-like patterns over white beads. Finally, there's one with luminescent jade beads and tiny cherry-blossom like flowers painted into every fourth bead. He clatters them together as he stares at the massive vine, letting his thoughts wander for a moment.

 

He'd felt betrayed earlier when he thought about Eleanor being partially a dryad, but then wondered if she'd even known she was a dryad. Eleanor had always told him that her mother had died early in her childhood, and she'd been raised by her human father; maybe, in order to keep her safe, his great-grandfather had never said anything? Or maybe the Mirage completely obstructed his great-grandfather's memories after Clover passed away? Jared feels like Eleanor knew, at least a little bit past what she could see with the Mirage in place, that it was in her, which was why she was so insistent on teaching him about the fairies. He's sad for her sake that she never knew the full extent of her gift. Maybe he owes it to her, to learn as much as he can. 

 

"It's really in me, isn't it? Dryad blood?" he asks aloud, but not to anyone specifically. He's never really been the type to talk to those passed, neither his parents of whom he had little memory or Eleanor, whom he loved very much but ... She hadn't been the one to ground him. He didn't find solace in single entities, but thousands of them.

 

Around him, there's flurries of action. Tiny vines curl their way up his splintered bedpost, one even stealthily peering over his comforters and twining around his wrist. Now that he's aware of his powers, he can't imagine how he missed it before; he had always known his plants grew much faster than others,' he just hadn't known why or even realized that it was really  _magic_ at play. The Mirage had, perhaps, worked quite too well- Jensen's existence had really helped piece together the bits of the puzzle that Jared hadn't even seen properly. 

 

"What do you think?" he asks the vine quietly, lifting his wrist to see first a tiny leaf sprout from the vine, followed by a tiny yellow flower. "Reckon it's maybe time to see my ancestors? The fairy world?" 

 

The flower's petals ruffle once, then go still. 

 

It's as much of an answer as he's going to get.

 

\---

 

He meets Jensen in the dirt road between their homes the next morning, surprisingly level-headed after how much contemplation had led to his decision. The hope in Jensen's eyes cements his decision. 

 

"I'm in," he says, something warm in his chest when he sees Jensen's eyes light up. He takes a breath of the fresh, sweet-smelling air. Might as well savor it, since he has no idea when he's coming home... Or if he's coming home at all. "Take me back to my roots, Jensen." 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Drop a comment if you did, I love to read them.


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